Lourdes' accolade a tribute to quality care

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, January 28, 2009

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Lourdes' accolade a tribute to quality care

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Editor's note: This is the first in a Wilton Villager series on the School Sisters of Notre Dame and the Lourdes Health Care Center. The series will cover how they aid the community through their efforts and introduce some of the people who are part of those endeavors.

By LAUREN MYLO

lmylo@wiltonvillager.com

WILTON -- The staff will tell you it's no different from any other nursing home -- Lourdes Health Care Center abides by all the same regulations of centers that aren't filled with religious sisters.

But in the same breath, the staff will say it's far more than an average nursing home.

"Where else can you find a place where a resident says thank you for coming to visit and God bless you?" said Diane Gucciardo, administrator of the Belden Hill Road facility. "Hugs are encouraged."

Hugs, and high standards. Last month, the center received a five-star rating from Centers for Medicare & Medical Services, the highest possible.

The rating evaluates based on a health inspection, the ratio of staff to patients and how well the facility cares for its residents' physical and clinical needs.

According to Gucciardo, Lourdes is one of two centers in the state to get five stars in each category. But even though she said she doesn't want that statistic to diminish the high quality of other local nursing homes, she and other employees can't praise their facility enough.

When asked why she likes her job as director of recreation, Mickey Santo repeats the question.

"Why do I love my job?" she said. "I love the sisters. They do so many things for others and are grateful for so much -- it's very rewarding. To come every day and do something you love and work with such a great staff is amazing."

Gucciardo, who commutes from Newtown, said she's never worked at a place with such low turnovers. She also said she's never seen such incredible camaraderie. The sisters hold vigil at bedsides so no sister has to die alone. They know each other's names and the names of the staff and their children.

"It's like family," said Nida Swinland, a nurse who says her commute from Danbury every day is well worth it. This place is smoothly run - the stress level is very low. . . Of course it's monitored by the state, but I think it's the extra care that each staff member gives to the sisters."

Swinland said her daughters come to play bingo with the residents, and the business manager's son entertains the sisters with his violin.

The staff holds birthday parties for the residents once a month, and residents of Lourdes and Villa Notre Dame, the retirement home that connects with Lourdes, attended the baby shower for one nurse.

"It's a two-way street," said Swinland. "The sisters see the children grow up."

One sister, Miriam Patrick O'Donnell, lives in the Villa Notre Dame.

She visits her biological sister at Lourdes, Catherine O'Donnell, often and said: "You couldn't come to a better place."

She said she also visits a local nursing home to talk to people whose children are in the service or whose families live too far away to visit.

"We go two days a week to visit senior citizens, we tutor students . . . we keep out of trouble," said O'Donnell with a wide smile that mirrored her sister's.

Lourdes is owned by the School Sisters of Notre Dame and only a vowed religious sister can be admitted.

Mass is celebrated in their chapel six times a week with a closed circuit television for those who can't leave their rooms.

But the sisters also play cards, have bowling games, read the newspapers and keep up with current events.

"They were teachers, so they have their own specialties and high levels of intellect," said Santo. "They were really into the Inauguration."

The facility hosts 40 beds, a physical therapy room, a beauty salon and each sister has a single room with a shared bath

"We have to go by all the rules and regulations other nursing homes go by," Gucciardo said, stressing the level of normalcy one will find at Lourdes. But she can't help but mention the real reason she feels Lourdes is so highly-rated.

"We feel the sisters have given their lives in service," she said. "And now in their senior years we provide the best care possible."